It’s no secret that I’m not really a sports fan. I think I tried to be one for a while. I loved going to baseball games with my dad when I was a kid and I played volleyball and softball in high school. I was kinda into following basketball for a while in college and I can get into the World Series, but I’ve never in any way liked to watch football. Just not that interesting to me and I can’t get behind the over sexualization of women in the associated advertising along with the hyper masculine sport of bashing into one another to the point of major injury, but that rant is for another day.

My husband loves football.

We have tons of things in common, this is just one that we don’t. He hates theatre and I hate football. We’re even.

However, most of the country gathers around and watches this big game every year and I’m usually hanging out at the snack table if I even go. This year we were invited to a party with some close friends and I wanted to see them and enjoy some social time, so I decided to tag along. I needed something to wear that showed my support and team spirit… of snacks.

So, I whipped up this little t-shirt for the occasion.

I used my Cricut machine to cut out my stencil and then I used double-sided tape to adhere the stencil to the shirt.

Next, I used black fabric paint to fill in the stencil with a small paint brush dabbing at the edges so they wouldn’t bleed. Be sure to let the paint dry all the way before you try and remove the stencil. There are so many ways to do a stencil, but I was able to do this one with stuff I already had.

I’m not really ahead of the curve on this one. I’m owning it. The really good DIY bloggers make, photograph, edit, and post their projects in plenty of time for their readers to find their post, read it, and craft the project themselves all before certain universally celebrated days. Well, enter my Super Bowl post one month post said Super Bowl.

Ha.

Well, it’s a good thing that this shirt can be applicable in all kinds of circumstances AND there will be another Super Bowl next year, so you have plenty of time to make your own in time for the big game of 2017.

Call me a Pinterest Mom if you want, but I love a good party. Deciding on a party theme and working out all the details is something I really enjoy. We had considered not throwing a party at all and just doing a small little thing at home this year with family, but I couldn’t do it. And honestly, but the time you invite our family over, you might as well just invite the whole neighborhood as there is no small family get together. Also, I’ve come to understand and accept that the party is just as much for us as it is for Harvey, maybe more so. With that in mind, we went for a dinosaur theme. It was that or Pixar’s Cars, but I’m not much for character parties as I like creating within a more general theme. Also, there might come a day when he has an opinion about the kind of party he wants, so I’m going to fully take advantage of the years where whatever I want to do is what we do. I’m sure there will be plenty of Marvel themed parties in my future, so for now we’re going with dinosaurs which I think is a fair choice.

I think that the details are my favorite part of party planning. I get to explore and create all kinds of fun things from cake decorating to paper crafts. Cake decorating is something that I have come to love over the last few years. Like most things, practice pays off. This might have been my cleanest cake to date and although it’s a simple design, I’m pretty proud of how it turned out.

I also love creating a little something for our guests to take home. This year, I decided to make dino-topped mason jars filled with Skittles! They were a hit.

These were our dino bones! They’re pretzels with marshmallows on the ends dipped in white chocolate.

This year, we opted for a renting a bounce house. BEST IDEA EVER! Seriously, I was so happy that we had something to entertain all the kids while they came to celebrate and hang out. Also, Harvey got it to himself for a good 40 minutes and he loved it.

Of course the best part is just being surrounded by our friends and family celebrating this sweet baby boy. Man, my heart swells when I think about him. It’s so special when we gather to sing happy birthday to him. I try so hard to burn those moments in my mind so I can remember them forever. They just come and go so quickly that they’re easy to miss and since I’m kinda sentimental, I like thinking about preserving memories as best I can.

I think Harvey really had a good time and at the end of the day, that’s what really matters. He partied hard and then crashed hard.